Avoid Mistakes with your Smart Home Plan
Homeowners with some home improvement expertise assume that smart home automation should be a fairly simple process. Especially considering the availability of plug-and-play devices that are cheap and easy to set up. Unfortunately, many homeowners learn too late that too much money and time was spent on a system that doesn’t work as intended.
Building a bespoke home is a lifelong goal. Making that gorgeous area smart is the frosting on the cake, and it happens to be our specialty. With this in mind, we’d like to spotlight some of the most common mistakes consumers make when creating a personalized smart home. We conferred with our design and engineering teams to establish the nature of the errors and how to avoid them.
Before purchasing your own smart home equipment for a weekend project, consider the mistakes with a DIY approach. Read about the Top 4 Mistakes of DIY Smart Home Buyers to avoid making the mistakes yourself.
Have a Plan
If you don’t have a plan for your home automation, don’t buy the latest smart home gadgets. Homeowners often buy miscellaneous sensors and bulbs, only to realize it’s not compatible with other devices, or purchase systems that just simply end up unused.
A professional smart home installer scopes out your goals with automation, and home layout and determines the correct amount of devices required. More importantly, they create a compatible ecosystem of connected devices that are easy to use or make life easier.
Have a Budget
Visions of automatic splendor may be dancing through your brain, but the sheer number of choices and alternatives may be intimidating. Having a realistic budget helps to put the project into perspective.
It may be tempting to bundle all smart systems into a single house budget, but it is frequently wiser to divide your budget by function. Separate entries for automation, audio distribution, and home theater allow you to assess the time required to complete each system.
You can definitely benefit from the assistance of a professional at this stage. Our Austin Smart Homes team has extensive industry and product knowledge. We can suggest high-quality brands and solutions that are a good fit for your budget, lifestyle, and personal preferences. It is entirely possible to obtain the solutions you seek at the prices you require with the appropriate direction.
Choose the Right Partner or Brand
You won’t be certain that your new home will work for you if you don’t trust the individual you’re speaking with. During these early discussions, it’s critical to be open and honest about your goal. There are numerous alternatives available, which can be fairly overwhelming, so discussions about how you intend to use each space in your home are critical. One of the advantages of working with Austin Smart Homes is that we accomplish far more projects than the average AV firm. With feedback from our service teams around the country, our design and engineering teams understand what it takes to accomplish these jobs properly and is able to learn more, develop our designs faster, and adapt to emerging technology much more easily than the average custom installation.
Properly Install Components
Depending on the type of devices you’re looking to set up, there could be significant skill involved to make sure everything is installed correctly. Simpler plug-and-play devices are certainly available for purchase. However, some dimmers, light switches, and smart home thermostats need electrician experience to function properly.
If you don’t know what you’re doing with connecting security systems and automating appliances, it could lead to damage to your home, even injury. Unless you’re confident in your home repair, wiring, and installation skills, it can be better to call in a pro.
Buy Compatible devices
Smart devices sold to consumers may not communicate together with a larger system. For example, some sensors only work with Bluetooth while other gadgets require a proprietary gateway. Additionally, each of these systems may have its own individual apps or remotes to control a different part of your smart home. It’s incredibly inconvenient to sign into and manage different applications to complete various home automation tasks.
Most fully integrated smart home systems require a smart home hub to connect all your devices. Homeowners looking to install a whole smart home system may not realize that more technical accessories are required to fully integrate and effectively operate a smart home.
Once a professional contractor understands how you want your automation to function, compatible systems can connect them to a single application. That way you won’t have to download an excessive number of apps to your phone or keep track of different remotes.
Considering extended installation time
Homeowners want smart home features for a reason. For some it’s security, for others it’s saving energy and reducing utility bills. With a long list of other home improvement projects waiting for time and attention, attempting a smart home install may just end up as another delayed home improvement project. Hire a professional to get it done quickly and right.